Friday, May 8, 2015

Almond Biscotti

Biscottis are everybody’s favorite at our home! Even my mom and dad loved biscotti when they were visiting us! So it’s an obvious choice to bake when I feel like baking any sort of cookies. This is the second time I tried this recipe. The first time I did, it got such rave reviews and was over in no time. I couldn’t even take any photos. So this time hubby took the photos as soon as they were out of the oven {he’s so cute!}.

The texture, the crispness – everything is just perfect! I wanted to dip some of them in chocolate but haven’t gotten around to it yet.

1 cup chopped roasted almonds (the recipe suggests using 2 cups but I found 1 cup to be plentiful. You can use raw almonds too, since I only had roasted at home I used them)

Method:

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line one large (about 18" x 13") baking sheet with silpat or parchment paper. If you bake often and don’t have a silpat, I would highly recommend one!

In a medium-sized bowl, beat the butter, sugar, salt, vanilla, and baking powder until the mixture is smooth and creamy.

Beat in the eggs; the batter may look slightly curdled. At low speed of your mixer, add the flour, stirring until smooth; the dough will be sticky. Add chopped almonds and mix.

Plop the dough onto the prepared baking sheet. Divide it in half, and shape it into two 9 1/2" x 2" logs, about 3/4" tall. Straighten the logs, and smooth their tops and sides; a wet spatula or wet bowl scraper works well here.

Bake the dough for 25 minutes. Remove it from the oven.

Using a spray bottle filled with room-temperature water, lightly but thoroughly spritz the logs, making sure to cover the sides as well as the top. Softening the crust just this little bit will make slicing the biscotti much easier. Reduce the oven temperature to 325°F.

Wait 5 minutes, then use a sharp chef's knife or serrated knife to cut the log crosswise into 1/2" to 3/4" slices. Or cut the biscotti on the diagonal, for fewer, longer biscotti. As you're slicing, be sure to cut straight up and down, perpendicular to the pan; if you cut unevenly, biscotti may be thicker at the top than the bottom, and they'll topple over during their second bake.

Set the biscotti on edge on the prepared baking sheet. Return the biscotti to the oven, and bake them for 25 to 30 minutes, until they feel very dry and are beginning to turn golden. They'll still feel a tiny bit moist in the very center, if you break off a piece; but they'll continue to dry out as they cool.

Remove the biscotti from the oven, and transfer them to a rack to cool. Store airtight at room temperature; they'll stay good for weeks.